Fire-escape.



G. M. BARBER 6L L. L. FRAZEE.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLlcAloN man SEPT. 14, 1914.

E 1121 8,828. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Miu'. 13, 1917,

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, |914.

G. M. BARBER & L. L. FRAZEE.

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'UNITED STATES FATEN FFICE.

GUY M. BARBER, 0F LOS ANGELES, AND LOUIS L. FRAZEE, E GLEN DALE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-HALF 'IO GEORGE T. MORAN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 14, 1914; Serial No. 861,730.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, GUY M. BARBER and LOUIS L. FRAznn, both 'citizens of the United States, the former residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, and the latter residing at Glendale, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to fire escapes such as are provided on the outer walls of buildings for the purpose of permitting occupants of the buildings to escape therefrom in case of fire. In such fire escapes it is common practice to provide'a series of balconies adjacent to the windows of the buildings, these various balconies being connected by a series of ladders or stairs. In case of re the occupants of the building escape through the windows to the balconies and pass downwardly over these stairs. There is some danger of improper use being made of these fire escapes and often no ladder or stairs is furnished between the ground and the lowest balcony, the fire department taking people off these lower balconies in case of a fire. Another' common method is to provide a ladder which is normally raised under the lowest balcony but which may be loweredby persons in this lowest balcony should they desire `to descend therefrom. v Y

The principal object of our invention is to provide stairs which will normally be held up in the lowest balcony but which may be lowered from the balcony to provide an easy and secure means for descending therefrom.` A furtherlobject of our invention is to provide means whereby these stairs may be easily and quickly manipulated from the balcony.

In our Ilargerl cities where the-buildings are builtin solid blocks, often without an alley, the 4only practicable location for the fire escape is on the front of the building facing directly on the street. .On the business streets wherethe lower stories of the buildings are occupied by store rooms it is, common practice to provide awnings or canopies which extend out over the sidewalk and interfere with ladders which drop in a plane parallel to the front of the building as is the common practice. A further ob ject of our invention is to provide 'stairs for the lower balcony of a fire escapev which may be extended out in a plane at right angles to the front of the building, thus avoiding the awnings or canopies commonly found in theV front of store buildings. f Further objects and advantages will be evidenthereinafter.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

Figure 1 is a front view of a portion of a building showing the stairs in their raised position. p.

Fig. 2 is a section'on theV plane t2-.r2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a section on the plane r3-fais of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. t is a section throughjthe wall of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow :v4-m4. Y l

Fig 5 is a side elevation of a portion of the wall of a building with the vstairs inL their lowered position, portion' of the wall beingv shown in section to better illustrate the invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of the counter-weight and ropes used to manipulate the fire escape. In these drawings, 10 is the front wall of a building having a window 11 `therein which opens on to the balcony 12 of a iire escape. A ladder 13 communicates with the upper balconies of the fire escape according to standard practice. The balcony 12 is supported on suitablebraces 14 and awnings 15 may be secured to thel front of the building in the location shown. An upper pivot 16 is secured in the frame of the balcony 12 and a lower pivot 17 is secured near the junction of therbraces 14 with the wall. The balcony 12'has a. railing 18 formed around the end and one side thereof, a gap being left at'19 into which stairs 20 fold when in their raised position, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive. v'Ihe stairs 2O consist of a series of horizontal members 21 and a series of vertical members 22, horizontal and vertical when used in this sense referring to the 'extended position of the fire escape as shown in Fig. 5. The centers of the horizontal members 21 and the vertical members 22 are pivoted together on pins 23, and the ends of these levers are pivoted togetherV on pins 24 and 25 so that the horizontal members 21 and o the vertical members 22 form what is commonly known as a lazy tongs, this being a common mechanical movement. The extreme upper horizontal member 21 is pivoted on the pivot 16, the next lower horizontal member 21 being connected by means of a short link 26 with the pivot 1T. Upper treads 27 and lower treads 28 are secured to the horizontal members 21 forming the steps of the stairs 2O when they are lowered into the position shown in Fig. 5. Each horizontal member 21 with the exception of the lowermost of such members is provided with two treads as hereinabove set forth, both of which are located between the respective pivots 25 and 23, each lower tread 28 is provided with odset side members 28 which permit the lower treads to telescope when the fire escape is in the raised position as shown in Fig. 3. An arched member 29 is provided, pivoted to the last horizontal member 21 and secured by means of a link 30 to the lower end of the last vertical member 22. A wire rope 31 is secured by means of an eye 32 to the arched member 29, this wire rope extending upwardly and passing over pulleys 33 and thence downwardly through a pipe 35 to the top of a counterweight 3st which travels up and down in the pipe 35.V

For the purpose of raising and lowering the fire escape an additional or operating rope 36 is provided, this rope being secured to the top of the counter-weight 34, passing upwardly and over pulleys 37 and downwardly outside the wall of the building, and over pulleys 38 and 39to the bottom of the counter-weight, a second pipe 10 being provided through which the rope 36 passes.

The method of operation is as follows:

`The stairs 20 being in the raised position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a person on thel balcony 12 desires to lower them. This is done by grasping the rope 36 and pulling downwardly on it, thus raising the counterweight 34rin the tube 35, the various parts moving in the direction 4of the arrows shown in Fig. 6. As the counter-weight 3st rises the rope 31 is paid out and the stairs 20 gradually extend themselves until they reach their lowered position as shown in Fig. 5. It is then possible for the person or persons on the balcony 12 to escape therefrom down the stairs 20, these stairs extending out over the awnings 15 and providing an easy gradual descent to the surface of the street.

When it is desired to raise the lire escape to its original'position the rope 36 is grasped and pressure is exerted upwardly thereon. This nieves the parts in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in Fig. 6 and folds the various parts up into the position shown in Fig. 1. The horizontal members 21 form a sort of hand railing for the stairs 2O and the rope 31 may be run under rollers carried on the pins 24 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, if affurther railing is desired the parts folding up into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 when the iire escape is raised. lt will be noted that the counterweight 34 and the ropes 31 and 36 are embedded in the wall 10 and are entirely protected by the pipes 35 and L12 so that the fire .escape cannot become deranged by fire in the building. By placing two treads on each horizontal member as above described the number of toggle members required is reduced practically one-half over the number required if one tread were placed on each horizontal member. In raising the fire escape the upper' tread on the respective members swings under the lower tread on the next horizontal member above, the lower treads telescoping in alinement with each other and the upper treads alining with each other as shown in Fig. 2.

It is also to be noted that during the movement of lowering the fire escape the links 26 cause the toggle members to swing outwardly away from the building and thereby avoid any awning or obstruction on the front of the building. When the escape is in the folded or upper position the links 26 serve as a partial support for the fire escape, and when the re escape is in the lowered position the links 26 impart rigidity to the same.

We claim as our invention:

1. A iire escape comprising a balcony, a lazy tong carrying treads to comprise a stair which in operative position comprises spaced horizontal members and vertical members, and an upper tread and a lower tread mounted on each of the horizontal members of said stair.

2. A fire escape comprising a balcony, a lazy tong carrying treads to comprise a stair which in operative position comprises spaced horizontal members and vertical members, each of said horizontal members being pivotally connected at each end and centrally to said vertical members, an upper tread mounted upon the horizontal members, and a lower tread mounted upon the horizontal members in front of the upper tread thereon, both of said tread members being ybehind the central pivoted connection of the respective vertical and horizontal members.

3. A. fire escape comprising a balcony, a lazy tong carrying treads to comprise a stair which in operative position comprises spaced horizontal members and vertical members pivotally connected together, upper and lower tread membersV on each horizontal member, each of said lower treads having oifset side portions adapted to nest when in folded position, means for pivotally connecting the upper horizontal member to said balcony, means for pivotally connecting the next lower horizontal member to a fixedy member below said balcony, and means for raising and lowering the stair.

4. A fire escape comprising a balcony, a lazy tong carrying treads to comprise a stair which in operative position comprises spaced horizontal members and Vertical members, an upper tread mounted upon the horizontal members, and a lower tread upon each of the horizontal members, said lower treads 10 having offset side portions to allow said lower treads to telescope when in folded position.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles, California, this 5th day of September, 1914.

GUY M. BARBER. LOUIS L. FRAZEE. In presence of FREDA. MANsrmLD,' FORD W. HARRIS.-

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

